


Sonny

by kikabennet



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Adoption, Awkward First Times, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Kissing, Child Abuse, Childhood Friends, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Recreational Drug Use, random spanish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-07-01 06:51:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15768825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kikabennet/pseuds/kikabennet
Summary: When Sonny De La vega is nine years old, his mother dies and his world is turned upside down. His once fun loving cousin, Usnavi, is now his guardian, but their relationship is different. As Sonny struggles to fit into a new place, a new life, and a new relationship with Usnavi as a parental figure, he meets an older boy named Pete, who makes him feel a little less like going insane in all this change.





	Sonny

Sonny had always loved Usnavi. He was always eager to play with Sonny, to tote him around, to hand him things around his room like his globe. Sonny loved his globe. He would sit on the floor with Usnavi, spinning and spinning it and would laugh when Usnavi would abruptly stop it and point to a random location and talk about it. On Sonny's sixth birthday, Usnavi slapped a bow on that globe and gave it to Sonny.

When Usnavi's parents, Tia Carmen and Tio Luis passed away, Sonny saw less and less of Usnavi because he lived with Abuela Claudia and worked at the store. He was a teenager now and didn't really have time for Sonny to come over and play. It's not like Sonny had seen a lot of him anyway since Usnavi was about twelve or thirteen. By that time, when Sonny came over, Usnavi would play a quick game of tickles or wrestle Sonny on the sofa and then disappear with his friend, Benny, somewhere or shut himself up in his room to work on homework or listen to music. 

That all changed when Sonny was in the third grade right around Valentine's Day. The classroom was already decorated for the party they were going to have on Friday, and Sonny had begrudgingly sat down with Mama to sign and seal a Valentine for each and every one of his classmates. He wasn't really interested in the Valentine cards-not unless they had candy. He was more interested in the cookies and punch and pizza that would be provided by the room parents, and the extra recess time. 

"Santiago De La Vega?" The principal stuck her head in the classroom. A few of the kids snickered, knowing Sonny  _never_ liked to be addressed by his full name.  

Sonny stood up and watched as his teacher moved to the door and spoke quietly with Principal Schuh. Ms. Ballard got a strange look on her face and nodded, turning to Sonny. She put on a big fake smile and said, "Get your things, Sonny, okay?"

"Am I leaving early?" He asked. 

It seemed strange.Mama usually never picked him up early unless he had a dentist appointment because work at the loan office kept her very busy. Even when Sonny was sick and had to go home, it was usually Abuela Claudia that came and got him, or Mrs. Rosario, or if they weren't available, Daniela or Carla. Maybe he had an appointment and forgot? 

"Yes, Honey," Ms. Ballard said. "Go with Ms. Schuh."

Principal Schuh closed the door behind Sonny and knelt down on one knee. She was an older lady, soft and plump and always wore scarves around her neck. Sonny liked her. Once when all the kids had to sit in the hallway for a bad weather drill, he had gotten bored and started spinning a quarter around on the floor. Principal Schuh had placed the heel of her pump on top of it and dragged it a few feet, making the other student-and Sonny-laugh. She had given him back his quarter. 

"I just got a call from your mother's office," she said. "Something happened."

"What happened?" Sonny grew worried. 

He had overheard Mama talking to Daniela once about how dangerous the loan office was. They didn't keep the cash locked up anywhere, just put in a drawer and taken to the bank every hour. Twice they'd been robbed. 

"I'm not sure," Principal Schuh said, leading him to her office. She had a collection of toy frogs on her desk. All of the students knew she liked frogs. 

There was a police officer there too. Sonny eyed his gun. He didn't like guns. 

"This is Officer Bentley," Principal Schuh explained. 

"Hello, Santiago," Officer Bentley said, sitting down in a chair. 

"He goes by Sonny," The principal offered.

"Sonny." The police officer smiled. Standing next to him was a young woman in a pantsuit. 

"This is Ms. Gold," he introduced. "She's from Social Services."

"Hello, Sonny." Ms. Gold shook his hand. 

The school counselor, Ms. Star, also came into the little crowded office. She closed the door. Sonny was really worried now. 

"Sonny," Ms. Star said. "Your mother, Sarahi, suffered from a brain aneurysm this morning. There was a blood clot in her brain and it ruptured."

"Is she okay?" Sonny asked, his voice shaking. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears.

"She passed away, Honey," Ms. Star said. "There was nothing anyone could have done. It was no one's fault..."

Sonny suddenly felt numb. There were tears clouding his eyes, but he was oddly embarrassed to let them fall in front of all these adults. He stood there, swallowing hard and shaking and Ms. Star continued, but he could no longer hear her. 

"We're going to call someone to come and get you," Ms. Star said. "It's okay to cry. You can cry."

Suddenly, the officer, the principal, and the counselor were all telling him this, almost coaxing him to cry. Sonny burst into tears then-loud, babyish sobs and Ms. Star held him. The Principal wiped away a few tears of her own.

"Are you sure?" He asked, trying to catch his breath. "Are you sure it was her?" 

He didn't necessarily wish for it to be someone else's mom, but he certainly didn't want it to be his. The counselor continued to hold him and Officer Bentley excused himself to go get Sonny some water. 

"Officer Bentley is going to take you to the hospital, okay?" Ms. Star said. "Someone will be waiting for you there."

"Is that where she is?" Sonny asked. "My mom?"

At that moment, someone poked their head into the room and Sonny quickly wiped at his eyes. It was one of the office ladies. She called Principal Schuh over and whispered something, pointing at Sonny. The principal frowned, but nodded and then closed the door. Officer Bentley came in a few moments later with a paper cup filled with water. Sonny took it, but didn't drink it.

"Do you know someone named...Oos...Usnavi?" Principal Schuh asked him.

Sonny blinked, letting a few tears fall. He looked at her. 

\----

A few minutes passed. Principal Schuh had stepped out for a moment and Sonny sat in one of the chairs as Ms. Star told him about how she lost her mother when she was eleven years old. He didn't want to listen to her, but he had nowhere else to go. He kept his eyes warily on Officer Bentley's gun on his belt. 

"Sonny?"

Sonny turned to the door to see Usnavi standing there, his eyes puffy from crying. He smiled shakily at his little cousin and said, "Hey, _Mijo_."

Sonny's bottom lip quivered and he all but ran into Usnavi's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. He couldn't even stop long enough to take a breath. Usnavi picked him up, like he was two instead of nine, and held him like that, letting Sonny's legs dangle, his arms wrapped around Usnavi's neck like a koala. 

"I got you," Usnavi said quietly. "I got you."

To the principal, he asked, "Can I go ahead and take him?"

"Yes," Principal Schuh said, and Sonny guessed that maybe they just wanted to be away from the whole situation. "I'll sign him out. Keep in touch."

Usnavi carried Sonny out of the office and outside and then set him down. He wiped some of Sonny's tears away with the pads of his thumb. 

"What happened?" Sonny asked. "Is she really dead?"

Usnavi nodded with a long sigh. "The doctors say she didn't feel anything. It happened really fast."

It was strange because Mama had told him this when  _Usnavi's_ parents died. They hadn't felt anything. Now Usnavi was telling Sonny the same thing about his mother. 

"Where am I gonna go?" Sonny asked, wiping at his eyes. "Who's gonna stay with me?"

Usnavi held his hand as they walked to a waiting taxi. It surprised Sonny. He hardly ever rode in taxis. They were very expensive. And now he couldn't enjoy his very first ride. 

"I talked to the social worker, Ms. Gold," Usnavi said. "How would you like to come stay with me and Abuela?"

\-----

It was strange going to Abuela Claudia's that afternoon. She hugged and kissed Sonny and made him a comfy bed on the couch.

"Not to sleep," she assured him. "Just to get comfortable and watch some television."

Usnavi told Abuela in a hushed tone that he was going to Sarahi's apartment to collect some things for Sonny. Sonny overheard and asked to go. 

"I think it's best that you stay here, _Mijo,"_ he said. "Keep Abuela company, alright?"

"I wanna go," Sonny whimpered, starting to cry.

Usnavi let out a short, frustrated sigh. He knelt down and placed a hand on Sonny's cheek.

"I also have to stop by the hospital," he said quietly. "I don't think you need to go there with me."

"I wanna go," Sonny said again, tears running down his face.

"No,  _Mijo,_ you stay here," Usnavi said, already moving to the door. Sonny followed him.

"Stay with me," Abuela coaxed.

Sonny didn't listen. Usnavi stopped again.

"Sonny," he said with a sigh. "C'mon."

"You're going to see Mama!" Sonny accused. "I know you are! I wanna go! I wanna see her!"

Usnavi texted something on his phone then, and a few minutes, Benny came up with Mr. Rosario. That confused Sonny until he realized that they were probably taking one of the Rosario cars on their errands. 

"Hey, Kiddo," Benny said and nodded at Usnavi and Mr. Rosario who quickly went out the door, closing it behind them.

"Usnavi, no!" Sonny wailed, running to the door, but Benny caught him around the waist. 

"Hey, it's okay," he told him. 

"No, it's not!" Sonny sobbed. "It's not okay! Usnavi, come back!"

\-------

"Did you see her?" Sonny asked bitterly, sitting on the couch when Usnavi returned late at night. 

Usnavi looked as guilty as anything. 

"Yeah..." he said, hanging up his coat and hat. "I saw her."

Sonny stared at the TV, so tired of crying, but his eyes were filling with tears. His eyes were sore and tired and his voice was raw. Usnavi moved to sit beside him. 

"You'll get to see her at the funeral," he said, putting an arm around his little cousin. "But you didn't need to see her like that in the hospital. Trust me."

"Why?" Sonny asked hoarsely, tears falling once again. He continued to stare straight ahead at the TV.

"When I saw my parents in the hospital," Usnavi said. "I had nightmares about it for a long time. I was afraid of hospitals for a long time."

Sonny knew it must have been for him. Tia Carmen had passed away first on Sunday and Tio Luis passed away only a few days later on Wednesday. 

"I know this hurts," Usnavi said. 

"It sucks," Sonny said bitterly.

"I know it sucks," Usnavi agreed. "But I'm here for you."

Sonny wasn't really hungry, but Abuela came out of the kitchen with two bowls of pozole. She told them they could eat on the couch if they were careful. Usnavi started to eat and raised his eyebrows at Sonny, who finally took a bite. He really did love Abuela Claudia's cooking. 

"Gracias, Abuela," Usnavi said.

"Gracias," Sonny murmured. 

After they ate, Usnavi coaxed Sonny from the couch to the bathroom where he had brought in a large duffel bag filled with random clothes from Sonny's dresser drawers and closet. He helped Sonny to strip out of his clothes, even though Sonny was perfectly capable of doing it himself, but his whole body felt weak. Usnavi groaned.

"I don't think I packed you any pajamas, Kid," he said. 

He disappeared and returned shortly with one of his own t-shirts, which was big on Sonny, but it felt nice. Usnavi walked him to his bedroom-the apartment was so small and had just enough room for the two bedrooms to be right next to each other-his across from the bathroom and Abuela's right next to the bathroom. He quickly cleared a pile of laundry off of his bed and said, "You can sleep here."

"Are you gonna sleep here too?" Sonny asked, climbing in.

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes."

Usnavi stripped down to his boxers and started to walk out the door.

"Usnavi!" Sonny whimpered.

"I'm just going to brush my teeth," Usnavi said, but when Sonny started to cry, he changed his mind and climbed into the bed beside Sonny. 

It was almost an hour later when Sonny woke up, confused as to where he was. It was dark and there was a space heater noisily radiating in the corner. He turned to see Usnavi next to him, ,fast asleep. 

"Sonny?" Usnavi stirred when Sonny sat up.

"Mama?" Sonny asked, looking around.

"Sonny." Usnavi sat up too, rubbing his eyes.

"Where's my mom?" Sonny asked. He didn't understand why he was in Usnavi's bed. 

" _Mijo,"_ Usnavi said and then Sonny remembered. Reality crashed into him like waves on the shore and he laid back down, facing away from Usnavi, and wept quietly. He felt Usnavi kiss his head and rub his back. 

\----------

Sonny had attended Tio Carmen's and Tio Luis' funeral last year. He had to sit very still and hug a lot of people. It was the same today only this time, he was in the front row of the church. Tio Carmen and Tio Luis were Jewish, like Sonny's father who he'd never met, but Mama wasn't Jewish so her funeral was in a church, not a temple. She was in a casket, but she was not going to be buried. Usnavi had explained that she was going to be cremated and asked Sonny if he wanted to keep her ashes. 

"Why isn't she being buried?" Sonny had asked.

"She wanted to be cremated," Usnavi had explained. "It was in her will, and you can either keep her ashes or we can spread them somewhere she likes."

Sonny wasn't sure yet. A lot of his classmates came and told them they were sorry for his loss, so did his teacher, and Principal Schuh. Usnavi and Abuela Claudia had decided not to have anything after so everyone just went home. Usnavi and Abuela took Sonny out to lunch at the local pizza place he liked. He was too sad to eat. 

\--------

"I have to go back to school?" Sonny asked on Sunday evening after the funeral. 

"The faster you get back into a routine," Usnavi said. "The better. I promise."

Sonny didn't believe him, but he did feel better when he went back to school. His teacher had saved his decorated shoe box and it was filled with candy and Valentines. His teachers were kind and gentle and twice he was sent to the counselor's office because he started crying in class. Once right before lunch because he suddenly remembered that he was not going home after school, and once just before the final bell because he forgot he had signed up for soccer and now he knew Mama would not attend any of his games. 

"Sonny?" Ms. Star said before he left her office again. "I want Usnavi to call me, okay? Can you have him call me?"

\----

Sonny relayed this message to Usnavi when he got home from school and stopped by the Bodega. Benny had picked him up because his school was too far for the school bus to take him home. 

"I'll call her," Usnavi said, forcing a smile. "You want a slushie? Machine's right over there."

Sonny went to go make himself a slushie. He liked mixing the flavors together. He was on his way back with a variety of flavors in one cup, and was about to ask Usnavi if he could also have a box of Nerds candy to mix in too, when he stopped just short of the counter. Usnavi looked stressed, and Benny was rubbing his shoulder. 

"I'm gonna try and get custody," he heard Usnavi say. "There's nothing else to do. It's either that or he gets lost in the system."

"Navi," Benny said. "You already quit school when your folks died to keep the store up. How're you gonna run the store and raise a kid?"

Sonny swallowed hard. He watched as Usnavi removed his hat and ran a hand through his short hair. 

"I just have to make it work," he said. "I don't want to, but-"

Sonny hurried back the other way, in and out of the aisles, and out the front door. Usnavi didn't want him. He said so. 

"Sonny?" 

He was around the corner of the bodega when he heard Usnavi open the door and call his name. "Sonny, are you out here?"

Sonny held his breath as he heard footsteps and quickly hurried down the sidewalk and into a narrow alleyway where there was a single utility van parked. He squatted down behind the van, the plastic cup so cold it numbed his hands. 

"Is he out here?" He heard Benny say.

"I don't know," he heard Usnavi reply. "Goddammit. Where'd he go?"

Sonny swallowed back the lump in his throat.

"Sonny?" He heard Usnavi call again, and held his breath until he heard their footsteps disappear.

A new sound filled his ears. The rattle of a spray paint can. He turned around to see an older boy with headphones on, spraying something on the alley wall. He was painting a tiger. It looked good too. 

"You Sonny?" The boy asked, grinning slightly. 

Sonny said nothing. The boy looked old enough to be in junior high school. Junior high school kids were scary. 

"I don't bite," the kid said.

Sonny stood up.'

"I'm Sonny," he confirmed. He looked at the paint job. "That's really good."

"Yeah?" The boy grinned, continuing. 

Sonny sat on the narrow tailgate of the van and watched him work. He slurped at his slushie. The boy pulled his headphones down to his neck and asked, "You in some kind of trouble?"

"No," Sonny said. He didn't know what else to do so he offered the cup. "You want some?"

"What is that?" The boy asked suspiciously.

"Cherry, lime, grape, strawberry, blue raspberry, and some Nerds."

The boy laughed a little and said, "Shit. All that?"

He took it and took a drink. "Damn. That ain't half bad."

He playfully reached over and turned Sonny's baseball cap backwards. 

"I'm Pete," the boy said, handing him back the cup, but Sonny shook his head. 

For the first time in days, he felt a sense of peace. He felt happy. It was nice just watching Pete work. 

\-----

It was growing dark when Pete and Sonny heard the loud jingle of keys, heavy thudding of boots, and the obnoxious static of police radios. 

"Oh shit," Pete said, relatively calm. He quickly began packing up all of his spray cans in a backpack. 

The two boys held their breath, crouching behind the van as they heard the police stop. They were talking to someone. 

"And you said he walked out of the store and didn't come back?" One of the officers asked.

"Yes!" It was Usnavi. "I've looked everywhere. I went to everybody's house I could think of that he'd go."

Sonny suddenly felt a pang in his chest. Usnavi genuinely sounded worried. The officers sounded bored as they asked what Sonny wore to school and if he had any distinctive features like birthmarks and what not. 

"They're lookin' for you?" Pete asked in a whisper.

Sonny nodded. He swallowed and stood up, moving from behind the van and walking out of the alley. He could see as he approached the officers and Usnavi how upset his cousin was. He was blinking back tears and he had his hands under his hat, clawing at his hair.

"He's a little nine year old boy," Usnavi told them. "I have a picture of him on my phone, I think-"

"Is this him?" One of the officers asked, gesturing to Sonny with his thumb.

Usnavi turned and then he did start to cry. He threw his arms around Sonny, shaking, and said, "You're okay!"

"Where were you hidin', Kid?" The other officer asked, sounding amused. 

"He just lost his mom," Usnavi said protectively. "He's goin' through some stuff."

The officers left shortly after and Usnavi knelt down, checking Sonny over.

"Where did you go?" Usnavi asked. " _Mijo_ , I thought something terrible had happened to you." 

He placed the back of his hand to Sonny's cheek and said, "It's freezing. Let's get inside. Come on."

\-----

Once they were back in the Bodega, Carla looked up from the counter. Usnavi must have asked her to step in and keep watch. 

"Oh, there he is!" She cooed.

"Gracias, Carla," Usnavi said.

After she returned next door, Usnavi looked at Sonny. Sonny looked away.

"What's going on?" Usnavi asked calmly. "You can tell me."

"You don't want me," Sonny said. "I heard you talking to Benny."

Usnavi's brows furrowed and he genuinely looked confused. He looked hurt even.

"Sonny," he said. "That's not true. I do want you. I'm going to court on Friday to try and get custody of you."

"Benny said that you're too busy to take care of me and you said 'I don't want to'!" Sonny said hotly. "I heard you!"

Usnavi seemed to replay this conversation in his mind and then he let out a long sigh. He pulled Sonny against him and said, "I did say that, I did, but it wasn't about taking care of you. It was about going to court. I was complaining about going to court."

He pulled back and said, "I think it's stupid that they just don't let you stay with me, and they're makin' us jump through all these hoops to stay together."

"So you do want me to stay?" Sonny asked.

Usnavi nodded. "Yes."

\----------

Usnavi went to court on Friday and Sonny sat in class wondering how it went. He wondered if there was a judge and a jury and a lady off to the side typing things like on TV. He wondered if Usnavi had to take the stand. He wondered a lot about it and was so busy wondering that he was sent to the counselor's office. He was tired of being sent there. He didn't want to share his feelings with Ms. Star.

After school, Benny picked him up again and drove him to the bodega. Usnavi was back and he was smiling. 

"The judge said we could stay together," he told Sonny. 

"Really?" Sonny asked.

Usnavi nodded and said, "We need to talk though, okay?"

"Okay." Sonny pulled himself up onto the counter. 

"Benny can't keep drivin' you to and from school," Usnavi said. "You're gonna have to go to school closer to where we live."

"Change schools?" Sonny asked, horrified. 

"And I talked to Abuela," Usnavi said. "We're gonna move back...to my apartment."

The De La Vegas owned the apartment directly above Abuela's. When they had passed, Usnavi was too sad to stay there and had moved in with Abuela. Technically it was all one big split house that had been furnished into two living spaces with two kitchens and two living rooms, but it had always seemed like two separate apartments to Sonny. 

"You'll need your own room,"  Usnavi said. "Abuela loves kids, but we can't have your friends stompin' around and playin' video games and shootin' Nerf guns at each other. She's too old for that."

Sonny nodded. He was trying to be mature, but he wanted to cry. He didn't want to change schools and move away from his own apartment-even though Benny and Usnavi had gone and cleaned it out already. 

"I work a lot," Usnavi continued. 

Sonny nodded again.

"You're gonna have to see yourself off the bus," he said. "You can come here if you want or chill out with Abuela. Sometimes she naps in the afternoon so you'll have to go upstairs sometimes, but Dani and Carla said you can visit them too."

"I was at home when Mama worked," Sonny said. "I can stay by myself."

Usnavi smiled. 

"Okay," he said. "How was your day?"

"I have homework," Sonny said, taking off his backpack. "Can I do it in here?"

"Sure," Usnavi said. "Just grab that stool over there. Drag it up to the counter."

\-------------

Usnavi stayed up all night doing paperwork for Sonny's new school. Sonny felt bad that he couldn't provide more information like his social security number and things.

"Did Tia Sarahi ever talk to you about papers?" Usnavi asked.

"Papers?" Sonny frowned.

"Nevermind," Usnavi said, dismissing the idea with his hand. "Go to bed, Sonny. It's late."

Sonny went to bed, but he laid awake waiting for Usnavi to join him. He liked the feeling of Usnavi next to him. He fell asleep before that could happen and when he woke up, Usnavi was already up and dressed for work. 

\------

Sonny hated his new school. It was beyond crowded, and his teacher, Ms. Davis, was old and not very nice. She called him Santiago no matter how many times he told her he went by Sonny. His new class was behind his previous class in math and reading, and Sonny sat at his desk bored, drumming his pencil against the desktop. The kids didn't want to seem to make friends with him, but it was pushing March so why would they? The school year was almost over. 

Usnavi was literally at work before Sonny left for school and he stayed there until almost nine o'clock every night. Abuela Claudia enjoyed Sonny's company, but he was mostly just bored. He finished his homework in class and had nothing to do when he got home. Sometimes he would go to the Bodega, but it got busy and he couldn't talk to Usnavi. Usnavi told him not to watch TV all afternoon and he mostly just sat on his bed, staring into space. 

He was lonely, he realized.

\-------

"Sonny, right?" 

Sonny was surprised, but happy to run into Pete again. He'd gotten off the bus at an earlier stop just to have a longer walk home. Pete wasn't painting today. He was getting off of one of the junior high school buses. 

"Yeah." Sonny grinned. "Pete?"

"Yeah."

The two of them walked side by side on the sidewalk. Pete turned Sonny's cap around again. Sonny smiled. 

"Cops didn't take you to jail?" Pete teased, reminding him of that afternoon in the alley.

"Nah, man," Sonny said, hoping he sounded cool. 

As they walked, Pete began to talk about things he wanted to paint. He talked about the Museum of Art and graffiti artists that were famous and people that did amazing realistic drawings on the sidewalk with chalk. He talked to Sonny like they'd been friends forever instead of only just meeting a second time. 

"This is my stop," Pete said, pointing to some run down looking apartments. He slapped Sonny's hand. Sonny realized he put something in it. A folded up sheet of paper. 

"Bye, Pete," Sonny told him. He unfolded the paper to reveal a beautiful pen sketch drawing of stingrays. 

\---------

Sonny didn't know why, but he punched a kid. Matt Sterling was his name. He often teased Sonny for various things or threw paper at him or tried to trip him. Sonny had finally had enough when he had been looking over Pete's stingray drawing at his desk, and Matt had walked by and yanked it away from him.

"What's this?" He demanded. "Stingrays? You didn't draw this."

"Give it back," Sonny said.

"Who drew it for you?" Matt asked. 

"I'm serious, Man," Sonny said. "Give it to me."

He reached for it and Matt, just to be mean, tore it in half. "Oops."

Some of the other kids laughed. Some of them gasped. Ms. Davis, across the room at her desk, asked what was going on but didn't look up from her computer screen. Sonny stared at the ripped paper and his eyes clouded with tears. It was too much. 

"Oh, he's crying," Matt said. "It's just a drawing."

Sonny punched him, hard. He then threw all of his weight onto Matt, knocking them both the floor and punched him again and again. It wasn't until Ms. Davis was forcefully pulling him away did he come back to Earth.

\------

"Go wash your face," Usnavi said as they entered the apartment through their stairway and their door. They usually just trekked through Abuela's apartment, but Usnavi didn't want to disturb her.

Sonny did as he was told. When he came out of the bathroom, Usnavi was sitting at the kitchen table. He motioned for Sonny to sit. Sonny sat.

"This is the third fight you've been in this week," he said, looking at Sonny.

After wailing on Matt, some of the other boys had taken it as a challenge. They all teased Sonny now, hoping to get a rise out of him. 

"Sonny," Usnavi said. " _Mirame."_

Sonny raised his eyes to meet Usnavi's. 

"I can't keep closing the store to go down to the school and get you," Usnavi said. "That has to stop."

He said 'stop' with a hard edge. He meant it. Sonny said nothing.

"It's been hard," Usnavi continued. "I know it has, but we have to keep trying."

"Why?" Sonny asked bitterly.

"Why what?" Usnavi frowned.

"Why do we have to keep trying?" Sonny demanded, standing up. "Just to wake up every single day to be alone and all by myself and have all those kids pick fights with me? Then when I defend myself I get in trouble?"

"You're not all by yourself," Usnavi countered, but he sounded tired.

"I am!" Sonny barked. "You're never here! And I just sit here all day alone and sad and I want my mom back!"

He thought he would burst into tears, but he didn't. He just stood there, breathing hard. Usnavi let out a long sigh. He stood up and jammed his hands into the pocket of his jeans. 

"I know you do," he said. "I know."

He took Sonny's hand and walked them to the couch. 

"You do your homework at school, you told me?" He asked.

Sonny nodded. 

"How would you like to help out in the store a couple of days a week after school?" Usnavi suggested. "Stock shelves, sweep, keep the cooler lookin' nice. I could get out of there faster if I had some help."

"Could I run the register?" Sonny asked.

"We could build up to that, yeah," Usnavi agreed, combing Sonny's curly hair with his fingers. 

Sonny nodded. 

\----------

"Pete!"

Sonny called after the boy. He'd made sure to arrange his stop to match Pete's everyday. He enjoyed walking along side him, even if it was just for a little while. 

"Hey, Sonny." Pete grinned. "What up?"

"Usnavi's gonna let me work in the store," Sonny said excitedly, catching up to him. "And look. I made this at school."

The art teacher, Ms. Rodriguez, had let them free draw with oil pastels. Sonny had clumsily made a design, which had seemed a lot cooler at the time in the classroom than out here on the sidewalk. 

Pete took the paper from Sonny's hands and studied it. Sonny felt embarrassed. It was ugly. Pete could probably draw better than that when he was a baby.

"Look at how the colors wrap around each other," Pete said, smiling. He fingered the paper. "And this blue fading into purple."

He looked at Sonny. "Can I have this?"

Sonny's eyebrows went up. "You want it?"

Pete nodded. Sonny smiled.

"Yeah," he said, with a shrug. "Sure."

\----------

The week before school let out for the summer, Usnavi had his first conference with Ms. Davis and the school counselor. It was in the morning, and Sonny was in class, but he knew it was a nine-thirty. He wondered what they wanted to talk to Usnavi about. He hadn't been getting into any fights and his grades were good. Had he done something wrong?

\-------

After school, Sonny walked home with Pete, parting at Pete's apartment and went straight to the Bodega. Usnavi smiled at him, holding a large cardboard carton.

"Delivery day!" He said in a sing-song voice.

"I wanna do the box cutter!" Sonny exclaimed, making Usnavi laugh.

"Go get it," Usnavi said. "And be careful."

When Sonny returned, ready to cut the clear tape from the boxes, he asked, "What did Ms. Davis want to talk about?"

"Your grades," Usnavi said.

"Am I failing?" Sonny asked, cutting into one of the boxes. He let the sharp blade of the box cutter glide through the packing tape. 

"The opposite," Usnavi said. "You're too smart. Remember a few weeks ago when you said some lady from the district pulled you out of class and gave you a bunch of tests? Showed you ink blots and stuff?"

"Yeah." Sonny frowned. 

"Turns out," Usnavi said, grinning. "You're  _gifted_."

"What does that mean?" Sonny asked.

"You're smarter than kids your age," Usnavi said. "You're gonna be put in a special program they're openin' next year. The G&T advanced placement program. It's advanced work for smarter kids."

"I don't want extra work," Sonny complained.

"You need it," Usnavi said. "You need to challenge yourself."

They cut boxes in silence for a long time. 

"Navi?"

"Yeah?" 

Sonny hesitated. Usnavi looked up at him.

"I love you," Sonny said, turning red.

Usnavi didn't laugh at him or anything. He just smiled and said, "Love you too."

 

To Be Continued...


End file.
